WESTFIELD TWP. — About 20 community leaders and staff from Columbus’ Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio toured the Medina County Central Processing Facility on Friday to see first-hand how the operation works.

Members of the authority are studying the local facility and aim to construct a similar plant in the Columbus area to pull additional recyclables from its waste stream, said John Remy, communications director for the authority.

“This facility is successful in receiving waste materials, and we want to add to our operations in Franklin County and greater Columbus,” Remy said of the CPF.

CPF officials explained how collections are made in Medina County and how the facility separates recyclables from trash.

“We haven’t missed a day of processing materials in 19 years and do a pretty good job with maintenance and operations,” said Steven Viny, chief executive officer of Envision Holdings, which runs the county’s facility.

The local plant is designed to handle up to 400 tons of material per day, Viny said. By comparison, the facility of the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio takes in approximately 44 tons a day, Remy said.

Envision Chief Financial Officer Clayton Minder said the Columbus-area authority specifically is interested in the process of separating regular disposed trash from recyclables, such as aluminum cans, cardboard, plastic and newspaper.

In Medina County, recyclables and trash are collected in the same containers.

“We’re the only facility that separates trash and recyclables in Ohio,” Minder said. “This whole operation is unique because of that.”

In addition, the Medina County plant is the lone facility in the state that can produce compost using solid waste, he said.